The Cast-off Recast: Recycling and the Creative Transformation of Mass-produced Objects

On a daily basis remnants, scraps, rubbish, and junk are filtered through both formal and informal salvage operations in urban centers throughout the world. The essays included in this volume--"Muffler Men, Menecos and Other Welded Wonders: Occupational Sculpture from Automotive Debris," "Streetwise: The Mafundi of Dar es Salaam," and "Castoff/Outcast: Living on the Street"--explore the process of recycling within distinct environments. What emerges is a remarkable justaposition of diverse material behaviors informing the "lived experiences" of residents of Los Angeles, Tokyo, So Paulo, and Dar es Salaam.

Timothy Corrigan Correll is a doctoral candidate in world arts and cultures at UCLA. Patrick Arthur Polk is a museum scientist and visiting assistant professor at UCLA.